


Challenge me, Acknowledge me

by galaxyeyedrops



Category: Kamen Rider Gaim
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-18
Updated: 2014-09-18
Packaged: 2018-02-17 20:56:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2322914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxyeyedrops/pseuds/galaxyeyedrops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Kazuraba Kouta's End of Gaim Tokusatsu Songfic Challenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Challenge me, Acknowledge me

**Author's Note:**

> For [Kazuraba Kouta's End of Gaim Tokusatsu Songfic Challenge](http://kazuraba-kouta.tumblr.com/post/96067331422/kazuraba-koutas-end-of-gaim-tokusatsu-songfic). I first heard of this yesterday when Nerevar was talking about it on the twitters. Seemed pretty interesting and I've honestly never did a songfic before, so why not?  
> (Insert Itried.jpg)
> 
> Also, apparently, even a challenge can't get me to edit something properly. I'm so so sorry (for that and the weirdly formalish language, oh Kaito, why can't you talk normal?)
> 
> Song used: [This is war](http://www.metrolyrics.com/this-is-war-lyrics-30-seconds-to-mars.html) by 30 Seconds to Mars

The first time you see him, you don't think much of him.

He is attractive, you realize, but so are thousands of other people in the world. The fact is irrelevant.

What is relevant is his foolishness, his naivety, how he tries to pacify the child with smiles and empty promises. How he's willing to let that child, how he encourages that child to cling to his own weakness, his own cowardice.

You don't know his name then. You don't bother to learn, either. You know all that you need to know about him.

 

But then you see him again, this time at Team Gaim's garage. He answers your challenge, runs toward it even. You welcome the opportunity to crush him into the dirt.

But you don't. You can’t. He summons the largest Invess you've ever seen. It stands alone against your tiny army and beats them out of existence. He smiles openly at the display, laughing with his friends and gripping his lockseed before it's sent flying out of his hands.

You hate this kind of behavior and you hate Peco in that moment for it. The fact is that this person has power. He used it properly, he used it correctly, and Team Baron resorted to cheating because they were too weak to face it. The fact is that you are Team Baron's leader and everything they do, everything that Invess does, is your responsibility.

But before you can even formulate a plan, he acts. He transforms using a lockseed, wears a suit of armor, and fights it himself. Where you get swatted away like a fly, he emerges victorious.

An hour later, you know his name. Kazuraba Kouta.

He doesn’t challenge you, though,

He fights, yes, he defeats anyone who challenges him, but never seeks out opponents, never seeks you.

It's frustrating. You didn't make it so far, make Team Baron number one just to be ignored. To lie obediently in wait for a greater power to devour you.

And so you watch Gaim's videos over and over again. Looking for a method to his skill, a way to turn the tables against him.

Sid calls you one day and the solution practically falls in your lap.

There's a rush, a thrill in challenging Kazuraba. It doesn't matter if you're racing bikes or fighting using the belts, there's a feeling that leaves you breathless.

It's invisible under your helmet, but you couldn't help but smile when he finally answers your challenge, gets riled up enough to want to take you down.

You're almost equally matched. A slash here. A thrust there.

A single misstep is the difference between loss and victory. And honestly, you've never felt more alive.

He saves you then, blocking what could have been a fatal blow (because losing that belt, that amazing power would have killed you then, whether you continued to breathe or not) and your heart skips a beat. He offers you his hand and for a second, you want to forget about your pride, forget about never relying on someone else and just take it.

You take those feelings, force them down, and walk away with as much dignity you can afford, feeling his gaze follow you.

You don’t fight Kazuraba for a long time after that.

Never do, in fact.

While your arguments continued, besides the time Mitsuzane Kureishima revealed his treachery, they never ended up escalating to the point you two, well, pointed weapons at each other.

You’ve punched him a few times and he’s hit you back in return. You’ve shoved him, grabbed his collar, and have yelled at him to stop being so naive. He’s looked up at you in return, unrelenting, stubborn to the point that you despise him and admire him simultaneously.

(There are few encounters that ended with bruised lips rather than black eyes. Neither of you talk about them. They are yours and yours alone.)

It’s funny in a way, almost hilarious that you spent a fair amount of time believing that you’d die first, and it’s them who leave instead.

You remember the moment when Mai announced her resolve, when Kazuraba hadn’t found his, but promised to find one nonetheless.

For their sake, for your sake, you’re going to build your new world.

Mai is lost for the time being and all Kazuraba can do is continue to bleed wherever Mitsuzane Kureishima left him.

The current world deserves nothing. It can burn, serve as his funeral pyre.

With Yoko by your side, you take your first steps. _It’s a brave new world._

_A warning to the people, the good and the evil_

_This is war._

It’s easy. Everything is all too easy with these powers.

You fling Jonouchi and Bravo around like toys, smashing them together, throwing them to the ground when you get bored. A simple swing of your sword is enough to completely shatter his driver, completely shatter his ability to fight you, to oppose you.

It’s intoxicating, the feeling of finally, finally having obtained unmatchable power. Of finally, finally ceasing to be weak.

And all you had to do is lose everything that mattered.

If you did something stupid, it was believing Sengoku Ryouma’s words. Kazuraba Kouta isn’t so easily written off.

Your fight is interrupted once again, but in time, Kazuraba comes to you of his own volition, an army at his heels.

His gaze is fierce, his presence commanding. He denies everything you say, everything you stand for. He promises to show you real strength. You welcome the opportunity.

_It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie_

_The moment to live and the moment to die_

_The moment to fight, the moment to fight_

__

_To fight_

__

_To fight_

__

_To fight_

__

He slashes to the right, you thrust to the left.

You both switch out lockseeds constantly. Throwing everything you have at each other and more. Never giving in.

Screaming each other's names until your voices grow hoarse.

Steel clashes against steel. You can taste the blood in your mouth.

_We will fight to the death_

…

In the end, Kazuraba saves you again.

_The fight is done, the war is won_

Some part of you waits for that final blow, that knife between your ribs.

But Kazuraba smiles down at you instead. “Idiot,” you can hear him murmur.

He runs a hand through his hair and holds the other one out to you, grasping your hand when you don’t respond.

He pulls you up and together the two of you walk. _Towards the sun._


End file.
